Address: | 908 Savannah Hwy, Charleston, SC 29407, USA |
Phone: | +1 843-763-9923 |
Site: | nirlepcharleston.us |
Rating: | 3.8 |
Working: | Closed 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM |
FA
Fala Frostbane
My family has driven by Nirlep many times and had always wondered how good it was. I went onto restaurant com and saw they had gift certificates for this restaurant and noted there didnt seem to be any restrictions on their certs like other places; ie. not for lunch, only dinner, etc. We decided to go there for Fathers Day. We enter the restaurant and are seated promptly. But we arent given any menus and wait 2-3 minutes and decide since they had already given us our drinks and still no menus that they must think everyone just gets the lunch buffet that was available. Thats fine Ive had plenty of great Indian buffets. The food was meh ok. Some dishes were better than others. I finally decide to ask a waiter how much the buffet is and he informs of the price for the lunch buffet. I was slightly surprised that it cost so much, but we told each other, we would probably only come here if we had gift certificates as it was a tad pricey for the quality of food. We go to the register to pay the check and I hand the manager our gift certificate and he flatly refuses it stating that its only good for menu items...I inform him that thats not what the gift certificate states. He says they have called Restaurant com and they are trying to work it out. At this point, while Im slightly perturbed I can understand possible issues with an online gift certificate broker, but restaurant com has been very good about sending out email notifications if the details of a gift certificate have been modified and allow me to exchange them for other restaurants if Im not happy with the change. So the kicker, I inform him that they never provided us menus to begin with and he states that "You could have asked for menus"...Ive never been to a restaurant that didnt tell you how much the food/buffet cost or didnt provide at least a menu to choose from. At this point, I incredulously ask that I have to prompt them to provide me a menu? After some arguing, I convince them to accept my gift certificate and vow never ever ever to come back to this restaurant again. I will tell all of my friends not to go here and I could never recommend anyone to go here either.
NE
Neil Karcer
Very surprising how this restaurant has garnered such high ratings when the place and folks who run this place completely defy the basics of customer and hospitality service. We were first greeted by a rather nonchalant host (most likely the owner) and left to ourselves for a rather long time before somebody shows up to serve water. A rather long pause and somebody shows up with Menus and an under-cooked plate of Papad (Indian Wafers). We wait some more and then waiter shows up to take our order with the same uncaring attitude as the host. The overall experience continue to go downhill after that (e.g., warm beer, no plates on the table before the food arrived, no 2nd beer glass when specifically asked to bring two). The only saving grace was the food wasnt that bad to eat. I cant possibly understand the reasoning behind running this place. Why be in the hospitality business when you dont want to be hospitable? This is our real life experience of eating in a place that runs like a Soup Nazi kitchen. Perhaps, Seinfeld got the idea for the episode when visiting this place.
HA
Harlin Seritt
We got the vegetarian dinner for two. We asked for mild spice though -- I cant handle the super spice you get at most Thai or Indian places but the food was still amazing. And... if you must have heat, they can deliver that for you -- after all, thats probably the least difficult part to making great Indian food. I think I understand the service angle from some people but I have to tell you, Americans sometimes demand too much and complain too much when we dont get what we think we are entitled to. Ive been guilty of that too. After our dinner, the owners wife (who I think does a good bit of the cooking) came out and talked to us for a bit. She was very nice. They are a family who do a very good job of cooking great Indian food. Lucky for us, all we have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy it and not worry whether were getting 5 star service or not. The dinner for two got us naan, veggie fritters, lentil soup, malai kafta, palak paneer and some masala chai. All of it was very good. Id go here again and would recommend it to anyone in the area.
BE
Bert Blackwell
We have eaten at Nirlep for years. The food and service are wonderful. Im not sure what to say about some of the negative reviews here except to say that we have always had excellent service and food. Mr. Singh is quiet, but always professional and respectful. His wife is a delight and always makes us feel welcome. The food speaks for itself - wonderful. Though chickpeas may not be high or your list of favorites, do yourself a favor and try the Channa Masala - simple and elegant. As many reviewers have noted, the chicken Tikka Masala is decadent - pure comfort food. Communicate your tolerance for spice/heat to your server; they do a great job of accommodating to individual palates. The chicken Madras is one of my favorites and can be prepared anywhere from Indian Hot (I like it just shy of that) to mild. Service, hospitality, and most of all food have always been top notch with every visit. That is a difficult distinction for any restaurant to achieve.
RO
Rob Woodworth
No, this is NOT the best indian restaurant in Charleston, far from it. However, I end up here occasionally because the best one is a longer drive from my house. The food is not authentic and not flavorful. And all the reviews are right about the owners being grumpy. This trip really took the cake though. We ordered 2 dishes and garlic naan all with NO CILANTRO. Cilantro is a vile substance to those containing a certain gene (dont believe me, look it up). Sure enough, 2 of the items were covered with cilantro. Those 2 went back to the kitchen and instead of being remade, they poorly picked the cilantro out of the dishes. My girlfriend could not even eat her dish because cilantro stems were all over the place and were unable to be successfully removed. In addition, her dish was bland and tasteless anyway. Big disappointment and from now on we will stick to the better indian place.
A
A Private User
We used to go there all the time when in Charleston every month or so. The lady owner is very nice but her husband is rude. He would speak if spoken to but he never would acknowledge my husband. The last time we ate there, the food was so hot you couldnt eat it and when we said something, the male owner said, "didnt you see on the menu it said hot?". The son said he should have gotten a coke instead of water. We were not satisfied and could not eat the food and they didnt even try to make us happy. Now we go to Taste of India, the service is great, you feel special when you first walk in and the food is great. The only reason we kept going to Nirlep in the first place was because the lady owner was very nice and the food was usually good. We definitely will not go back any more. Go to Taste of India across the road or Chinar downtown instead.